Providing WiFi Services for An Event

Setting up WiFi services for a large event can be difficult. But for a lot of events WiFi is important or even essential. Often a venue will not be able to provide sufficient or reliable WiFi which will support a large number of users at a single time, or you may not even have this option if you are hosting a gig or outdoor event. And yet there are many purposes of providing WiFi services at your festival, performance, sporting event, conference or meeting.

WiFi access, free or paid-for, is often a big draw for guests, and sometimes it is essential for attendees or hosts to work, blog, research and carry out presentations. Event WiFi may be necessary for promotional purposes; a press presence may require WiFi access for publication, and WiFi access can lead to promotion through your visitors’ use of social networks.

This is where temporary internet comes in. Supplied by IT systems companies, temporary Event WiFi will allow you to set up WiFi services wherever you are hosting your event, whether you are hosting 100 or 10,000 people. Planning a connection is difficult, and best left to the experts, but they may require your help to assess your needs.

The following points are worth considering to help your temporary WiFi providers:

Know Your Venue

Knowing your venue is essential to provide suitable WiFi. The size and shape of a venue is key and it is likely your providers will need to make a visit to understand the size and shape of the area. Consider where the access points could be set up; they are usually located as high as possible to provide wider coverage. Think about possible dead spots, and whether this might be an issue.

In outdoor venues make sure that nothing could block signal from a transmitter by being based in front of it. Lorries can block a 13 or 14 foot access point. People, furniture and architecture can affect the strength of a WiFi signal, and microwaves can with it interfere too. Think about providing power sources for devices to be charged from; particularly important at conferences which are more than a few hours long.

If your event relies upon internet access then tell your IT systems WiFi provider. Make sure that they have backup equipment such as multiple transit providers and DHCP servers. Failure to provide a promised or essential network will reflect on you badly as an event organiser and leave an unimpressed crowd.

Understand Your Crowd

To work out the kind of bandwidth which you require you will need to predict your crowd’s WiFi usage. Think about what kind of attendees you are expecting; are they tech-savvy, young or particularly likely to own portable devices? Then deduct what proportion of attendees to your event will bring a WiFi enabled device, how many of these will be using your WiFi services at a set time, and for what purpose. Consider your crowd’s needs for downloading, streaming uploading.

Safety – WiFi for an Event

Managing the Network During Your Event

Your event WiFi providers should be able to provide people to manage your bandwidth. Demand for your event WiFi services will rise and fall so technical staff should manage this. Considering these areas will give your event WiFi providers a good idea of what you require and how best to provide it to ensure you have a strong and reliable connection at your event.

Noba are an IT systems provider who specialise in providing internet anywhere, including WiFi for events. Their cost-effective WiFi services are tailored to your needs by expert engineers.